The VO2 max test is an incremental exercise test.
Every minute we increase the resistance on a bike,
or we can do it on a treadmill where we increase the speed.
What we're looking for
is for the participant or the student to reach volitional exhaustion,
which is a posh word for just saying they can't do any more on that.
They've maxed out.
So as part of the Sports Coaching and Performance Science programme
we use Catapult Sports Performance Analysis Technology, which allows us
to understand how athletes move, how they cover the court,
how they cover the pitch. The benefits to the students,
they get exposure to industry standards of software and hardware.
Our students get to use a very, very rare piece of equipment.
They get to use video analysis software also so that they can go
into industry placements and hit the ground running.
We've got access to a standard range of strength and conditioning equipment
within this space,
but within very, very close proximity to a range of other equipment
which allows us to do some quite sophisticated monitoring and assessment
of human performance.
So some of the equipment we’re using today is really beneficial,
especially for our sports rehabilitators.
It gives you an insight into pre-screening and performance
which can identify injuries early on, which can then really lead a
rehabilitation programme and how we can aid these athletes
into preventing injury and better performance in general.
Here at the University of Hull,
we're really lucky first and foremost that we have the facilities that we do.
We have the treatment rooms here
where we have a lot of
plinths in the background, we have the same in the upper floor.
We have unique treatment rooms as well off the side of those rooms
specific for this building,
where we can treat clients both from the University and members of the public.
So we're here in the Health Injury and Performance Hub here at the University.
And today we've had students and patients in here
who’ve been working through various rehab plans and rehab exercises.
My area of speciality is clinical biomechanics.
We have these wonderful facilities here.
The group can use the facilities in different ways,
specifically with regards to supported exercise programme,
investigating prosthetics for individuals who have a below-knee amputation.
Having an
environmental chamber in the department is actually quite unique because
there aren't that many of them situated in universities across the country.
So it does offer a facility that is only available
at a specific amount of universities.
So specifically with regards to exercise and respiratory physiology, today
we've been looking at spirometry, but we've also got various other equipment
that can tell us about the respiratory health
of Tom's lungs and other students' and athletes' lungs.
For example, we can do impulse oscillometry,
which tells us about resistance within the airways
and we can get him on a treadmill.
Athletes often experience something called exercise-induced asthma.
So we have a look at his lung function before and after exercise
to see if there's any evidence
of airway obstruction occurring as a result of exercise.